Nikolas K. Gvosdev

After months of negotiations, Kosovo and Serbia have finally agreed to normalize relations. The deal pushes some questions aside and requires both parties to accept certain fictions. Nevertheless, it could as a template for melting the region's other frozen conflicts.

Two years after it declared independence, Kosovo has not progressed as many of its backers -- most especially the United States -- once hoped. To make Kosovo politically and economically viable, Washington should encourage negotiations open to the idea of territorial adjustment.

The Soviet Union came closer than many think to achieving its objectives in Afghanistan. How it almost managed to win -- and why it ultimately did not -- should serve as a lesson for U.S. policymakers today.